Public resistance to genetically modified crops has ensured that the area grown in Europe in 2011 remained at 0.1 per cent of all arable land, whereas organic farming accounted for 3.7 per cent of land.

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Friends of the Earth Europe, which opposes the technology, believes further adoption of GM crops would drive European farming in the wrong direction, away from more environmentally sensitive methods. Mute Schimpf, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe commented on the figures, “The public’s rejection of genetically modified crops has ensured that they are confined to small pockets of the European Union. Politicians need to listen to public opinion and throw their weight behind the demand for greener and safer farming.”

The only GM crop currently licensed for planting in the EU is Monsanto’s MON810 maize, which is grown mostly in Spain and South-Eastern Europe. Last month, Monsanto announced it was abandoning plans to sell GM maize to France, although France’s interdiction of GM crops was repealed last year after courts deemed it illegal, and German chemical company BASF announced the withdrawal of its GM potatoes and biotech research facilities from the EU. Both companies cited a “Lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe – from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians”.

Although in the UK, the government and NFU have voiced support for the adoption of the technology, there remains a high level of resistance. Detractors are concerned at reports of resistance developing in weeds and pests from the United States, where GM crops were first planted. Campaigners, including Friends of the Earth, claim this has resulted in a regression where farmers are forced to use previously retired, harmful agrochemicals and that copyrighted seeds have led farmers into bondage to large companies that own them.

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